Photo: CES on-line/Centrální evidence sbírek muzejní povahy
Born in 1874, Josef Suk was known as one of the great Czech lyricists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of Antonín Dvořák’s favorite pupils, and also became personally close to his mentor – so much so that he married his daughter, Otýlie, in 1898.
What followed were some of the happiest years of Suk’s life. The couple had one child, a son, also named Josef, that same year.
But the second half of his life was marked by tragedy. Over the span of 14 months in 1904 – 1905, not only did Suk lose his mentor, Dvořák, but also his wife. Otýlie died of heart failure aged 27 in 1905, a year after her father. These events inspired Suk’s Azrael Symphony, named after the Angel of Death.
The first half of his life and career was markedly more cheerful. In his youth, Suk followed in the tradition of the Romantic composers. As well as Antonín Dvořák, he also learned from Johannes Brahms, whose influence can be clearly seen in his Symphony in E major, which he composed in 1899, a year after his marriage to Otýlie.
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